His private Gulfstream jet touched down at Seattle-Tacoma Airport before dawn, and by six A.M, Daniel was sitting by Charlotte's bedside. The doctor gave him a brief report on her condition. Daniel promised that the donor would come shortly so they could start the transplant procedures.
Anika stormed in and started raising hell about his arrangement with Jeremy.
"Have you lost your mind?" Anika railed at him. "You risk the sanctity of our pride! Ninety percent of our members are loyal to you! With you not in charge, we could lose many important people."
Daniel regarded her with little interest.
"Danny-" Anika started.
"Sister," cut in Daniel. "It is a done deal."
"You've made a selfish decision. How could you-"
Daniel shut her up with a withering glare. "It's Jeremy. You share the same mother with him. Why do you take my side?"
Anika quieted, eyes still blazing. "My loyalty lies in the pride's best interests."
"Jeremy will make an excellent alpha."
"Jeremy will destroy our pride."
"Give him a chance, sister."
"You don't know him as well as I do."
"Oh?" Daniel turned to her. "Is there something I should know about?"
Anika quieted.
Before she could utter a word, Dr. Huang entered the room, interrupting them. "Mr. Addington? We have someone who claims to be Ms. Winters' donor."
They went to a private examination room where a nurse was checking vital signs of a woman in a wheelchair. Daniel saw Mary-Anne Winters for the first time, and she didn't look too good. The woman was in her mid-forties, pale, thin, and she was shivering uncontrollably. Her vacant eyes gazed straight at him, but she saw no one.
Dr. Huang ordered the nurse to put an IV line into Mrs. Winters and to prepare a bag for her. Without the doctor telling him so, Daniel could see that Charlotte's mother was in no condition for a serious medical procedure, let alone becoming a donor. His hopes of saving Charlotte crumbled apart.
"Where is her guardian?" Daniel asked the nurse. "I'd like to speak with him."
"A young man wheeled her in and then left," said the nurse.
Daniel's headache multiplied. "He just dumped her here?"
The nurse looked uncomfortable.
Anika touched her brother's arm. "Danny … "
Daniel fisted his hand. It occurred to him that Jeremy was toying with him. He was worried about Charlotte too much, and he couldn't see he was playing right into Jeremy's hands. How could his brother transfer Mrs. Winters from New York when she displayed signs of hypothermia? Anger crept into his veins.
"Doctor," Daniel addressed Huang. "Please give Mrs. Winters the best care available and make her comfortable. After she is recovered and stable, if you could arrange for her to be admitted into a private clinic suitable for her condition, I'd really appreciate it. Money is not an issue."
"I understand," said Huang.
"In the meantime, I will continue searching for a suitable donor for Charlotte. Please do everything you can to keep her alive."
"Yes, Mr. Addington."
Daniel returned to Charlotte's room, and Anika followed him. She seemed like she wanted to say something but decided against it. Without a word, Anika turned around on her heels and left.
Daniel called his lawyer and told him to find out where Jeremy was. He also instructed him to triple the reward for finding a donor. Buying and selling organs was prohibited in the real world, but human regulations didn't reach the far end of the Netherworld. As an influential figure there, Daniel exercised his pride's power to reach his objective. Still, the result was disappointing. Charlotte was as close to human as she was to Netherworlder, and her kind was the rarest of the rare.
After he finished his phone calls, Daniel leaned back in the chair, allowing himself a little luxury of relaxing. He hadn't slept since Charlotte was hospitalized. Suddenly, all the weight on his shoulders came crushing down. He was tired to the bone. He took Charlotte's hand and squeezed it gently.
Don't give up, my love. I'm never giving up on you. He rested his head on the bed.
Daniel Addington was asleep instantly.
Charlotte watched her father drawing a sigil in the air. There was a spark and a glimmer in the blank space before it slowly imploded into a gateway to another reality. In this case, it was another dream. The doorway became larger until it could allow the two of them to pass.
"Where are we going?" asked Charlotte.
"To find the culprit behind your accident."
She grabbed the Dream Lord's sleeves and followed in his steps. The scenery changed as soon as she walked across the threshold.
They were in a bar, and a shoddy one at that. The establishment was frequented by blue-collar folks winding down after a day of backbreaking work. Several men in work clothes congregated around a table. Some harsh-looking men in biker jackets played pool, accompanied by scantily dressed women.
Nobody paid any attention to Charlotte and her father because their presence was non-corporeal. The Dream Lord pointed to a man trying to woo a woman by the bar. Charlotte and her father glided toward them.
The man was dressed as a body-shop employee that hadn't bothered to change even though it was already after hours. He seemed to be in his late twenties but was already showing premature baldness. He had beady eyes, too large of a nose and a scrawny frame.
The woman sitting next to him seemed to know the man. She was a redhead, rather comely and busty. If she weren't an acquaintance, Charlotte doubted she'd give him the time of the day.
"Let me buy you a drink. Or twenty," said the man.
"Oh?" The redhead arched a stenciled eyebrow. "Feeling generous tonight?"
"Just got me some dough today."
"Whose wares did you fence?"
"Ouch." The man pretended to look hurt. "It's legit, Darlene. I got paid for doing some guy a favor."
The Dream Lord turned to Charlotte. "Do you recognize him?"
She shook her head. "Not really. Is he the one who ran me over?"
The Dream Lord looked at the man and touched his forehead.
Suddenly, Charlotte could see a cinematic view of the man's memory. His name was John Bettuci, and he was flat broke. When his former boss, a drug dealer in Compton, approached Bettuci with a job, Bettuci jumped on it without a second thought. The job paid ten grand in cash. Bettuci was given a burner cell and told to wait for instructions.
On the day of the job, Bettuci stole a truck from a train station parking lot and then spied on Charlotte. Bettuci was supposed to clip her when she was exiting the hotel. Bettuci couldn't believe his luck when Charlotte decided to walk to a park. Bettuci did her in. It was easy. He'd done the same kind of thing before. Twice. Both of his victims had died instantaneously.
Charlotte shivered.
There was a knot in her stomach that seemed to be twisting her insides into a ball as she thought of how close she'd come to being his third successful kill. This scum had taken the lives of others as if it was nothing.
Her father's expression darkened, but he said nothing. He flicked his fingers, and they were transported somewhere else.
This time, they were in the memory of the drug dealer who'd given the job to Bettuci. The man's name was Raymond Vargas. He was a long-time offender with a rap sheet in multiple states. He'd made Las Vegas his current base, where he supplied drugs in Sin City. He was the co-owner of several nightclubs.
One of his silent partners had come to him with a problem and asked Vargas if he could solve it. The job was worth a cool hundred thousand dollars. Vargas gladly accepted and promised the man, Antoine Fielding, a satisfactory result.
The Dream Lord flicked his fingers again, and they were dream-walking into another cinematic memory-Antoine Fielding's memory. Fielding was a stockbroker for a renowned firm in Wall Street. His clientele included several movers and shakers in New York City. Besides being employed by a respectable firm, Fielding was also running an illegal gambling circle. He dealt with money-laundering, prostitution, and he provided "special services" that his clients needed. Murder-for-hire was one of them.
So when Jeremy Addington, his biggest client, came to him and complained that he had a thorn in his side that needed to be taken care of, Fielding gladly suggested leaving the matter to him. He didn't even bother to ask why. Having someone from the Addington family owe him a favor would secure his connection to high society in New York.
The Dream Lord snarled in disgust at Fielding's revelation. Once more, he disconnected the man's memory, and then dream-walked into Jeremy Addington's mind.
Charlotte saw what she'd seen before-Jeremy's jealousy of his stepbrother- and Daniel's position as the pride alpha. Daniel's massive wealth and power that he could never have. Envy and greed consumed him so deeply that he'd embezzled millions from the family coffers and schemed to usurp Daniel.